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Tsuyoshi Yano is a perennially unlucky high school boy, and Kiyoko Yoshida, his classmate, constantly worries about him. Yoshida sees Yano come into school injured, and Yoshida begins following Yano out of concern for him, observing his unlucky daily life, and resolving to support him.

Yano-kun's Ordinary Days is based on theYano-kun no Futsū no Hibi manga byYui Tamura. The anime series is streaming onCrunchyroll on Tuesdays.

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Richard Eisenbeis
Episode 1 Rating:

You can judge how bored I am by something by how hard I start searching for “the dark twist” that would turn everything on its head and make it interesting. I spent nearly half the show's runtime hyper-focused on Mei, the protagonist's best friend. While the two are following Yano—attempting to figure out if he's being abused at home—we find out that Mei is unable to tie her neck scarf. This left me wondering how she could not know this. Surely, this is something her parents would have taught her—unless of course they didn't for some reason. Maybe this was a sign that it wasn't Yano suffering from domestic violence but Mei instead—and that her best friend never noticed. Oh, the tragedy!

But, of course, there is no dark twist by the end of this episode. It's exactly what it appears to be on the surface, a light-hearted rom-com about a boy who is prone to injuries and a girl who instinctively takes care of people. We watch as Yoshida discovers, to her own surprise, that she has a crush on Yano. Meanwhile, Yano is so used to being alone that he totally misses her overtures at a deeper friendship (and possibly something more). This is all wrapped up in a little story about communication—that it's better to be direct than make over-complicated plans to seem nonchalant.

And it's fine. ...Really. While it's not my cup of tea and I was perpetually bored throughout, that is more the nature of the beast than anything the series did wrong specifically. The story made sense, the animation worked well, and the voice actors fit their roles. I'm sure if you love these fluffy high school rom-coms where the stakes are low and the drama is easily overcome, you'll like this one. But as for me, I won't be giving this anime a second thought.

Episode 2 Rating:

Like last week's premiere, I found this week's episode boring from start to finish. The pattern is just too predictable. Yano will start some school activity, something will go horribly wrong, and he'll get injured. Then either we get a reaction shot from Mei and her friends to elicit a laugh, or Mei will do something heartwarming to attempt to mitigate it from happening next time. Rinse and repeat.

A big part of humor in general is the surprise aspect—and even though we may not necessarily know what exactly is going to happen, we know something is. Moreover, just by the context clue in any given scene, it's not hard to guess what will go wrong. Two people are messing around near a bunch of boxes while Yano sits nearby? Yano is attempting to sharpen a pencil? This isn't rocket science. Anyone can see the joke coming a mile away.

All that said, I won't deny that the show has heart. The question this episode asks—quite literally, in fact—is “What is normal high school life?” This is what Yano wishes for, yet everyone seems to have their own different definition. At first, Mei appears to believe that avoiding accidents is the primary goal. However, Yano isn't even aiming that high. What he wants is actually to finish high school activities—be that eating lunch with friends or completing a drawing in art class.

His painful misfortunes are a way of life. He has long since accepted that. But what he dreams of is not having to give up halfway—being able to enjoy the endings that everyone else seems to take for granted. And the episode delivers on this emotional beat perfectly. Yano getting to eat his “desert” for the first time feels like the triumph it is. It's only thanks to Mei and his other new friends—and the fact that they refused to give up on him—that he not only gets his moment but has people to share in the victory at his side.

So while this anime may not be for me, if you enjoy low stakes, heartwarming romance—and you don't mind being along for the ride when it comes to predictable comedy—Yano-kun's Ordinary Days is certainly worth a watch.

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Caitlin Moore
Episode 1 Rating:

WatchingYano-kun's Ordinary Days, I had an inkling that they were using the manga as astoryboard. There was something about the way the shots lingered, how some frames were detailed and others were a bit blobby, that spoke to me of manga framing rather than intentional anime-driven timing. So I looked into things, and it turns out nope, the manga moves way faster and has consistently detailed art, unlike the anime! That means there are two probable reasons for the anime's slow pace: to stretch two manga chapters to fit into the episode instead of chopping and screwing to cram a third one in, or to give the proceedings a more gentle pace. Maybe both.

The gentle pace works… sometimes. Instead of embracing the slapstick of a boy who can't seem to take five steps without getting injured, the episode focuses more on Yoshida's feelings toward Yano. Perhaps that's for the best; he's a sweet kid, and it wouldn't feel right to cackle at him falling into a manhole or running into a wall. However, that means that this romantic comedy doesn't have a whole lot in the way of jokes. There were a few moments that made me chuckle, like Yoshida's haunted expression and sleepless nights when she realizes she has a crush on Yano, because whomst among us hasn't had a similar reaction to a pathetic man? And the two can be sweet together, they're just rarely funny. However, the parts between the occasional jokes and emotional connections make things feel distinctly stretched out as the episode meanders lackadaisically through its 22-minute runtime.

The animation works similarly, with some brilliantly detailed and expressive cuts, but with a lot of simplified, borderline slideshows in between. The style is grounded, with realistic proportions and muted colors throughout. As a result, when the camera focuses on Yoshida and Yano's faces and subtle expressions, the show is outright beautiful. On the other hand, whole minutes can go by with zero or minimal animation beyond the characters' lips flapping. The voice actors possess sufficient skill to carry a significant portion of the burden, particularlyKōhei Amasaki's gentle tones as Yano. I just couldn't help taking issue with one aspect of the framing – Yano usually has an eyepatch on, and Yoshida consistently sits on that side. If you're talking with someone who is blind in one eye, you generally want to sit on the side where they can see you. I'm speaking from experience here.

I'm sure for some people,Yano-kun's Ordinary Days is a nice series to relax to, especially if the chill isekai du jour isn't to your taste. If you like your men pathetic and in need of being cared for, all the better. It's just a little too slow for my taste.

Episode 2 Rating:

I have to change one thing I said about the first episode ofYano-kun's Ordinary Days. It's not just for people who love pathetic men; it's also a very mild ero-guro series. I realized this when Yano accidentally stabs himself in the temple with a pencil, and there's a long, slow shot of the resulting trickle of blood sliding down the side of Yano's face. It happens while Yoshida is admiring Yano's profile, giving it a noticeable shot of sensuality. While I'm into mild pathetic men dealing with misfortune, this was a bit much for me. I'm sure some of you will judge me as boring for this.

I do have to say, though, other than the blood kink, it continues to be a perfect representation of what having a crush feels like. You search for justifications to do a nice thing for your crush, much like Yoshida making Yano a bento. You study their face from different angles and appreciate the fine details you would never have noticed otherwise. It's natural enough that it's a nice way to vicariously relive the feeling of falling in love for someone like me, who has been with the same person for over a decade by now. While the animation comes and goes, it's always up to the task of emphasizing Yano's delicate features when showing us how he looks through Yoshida's eyes.

This episode is a slight step up from the first, as it features humor with jokes that land – the art class portrait reveal is a classic for a reason – but it retains the same languid pace that makes me really wish things would pick up. I can only sit through so many lingering shots of the cast settling into their seats before my unmedicated attention span slips away. I can imagine how those extended shots of Yoshida gazing at Yano must feel to viewers who aren't attracted to soft-featured pretty boys. However, my sympathy is limited considering how many long shots of anime cleavage I've sat through for the sake of enjoying something with a good story.

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Bolts
Episode 1 Rating:

I'm sorry,Milo Murphy's Law was all I could think about when I was watching this episode. The only difference is thatYano-kun's Ordinary Days is an anime, and it runs at about half the speed of what you would find in that Disney cartoon. We all know people who are accident-prone, and it's entertaining when shows introduce side characters who get into wild shenanigans simply because they were born incredibly unlucky or lack exceptional self-awareness—making a character like that an object of affection and having that disposition be the catalyst for a blossoming relationship sounds like a pretty solid idea. The way that the show introduces the two leads and generates that excuse for them to spend time together actually worked for me. There is also a comedic edge here, with Yano's various accident-prone tendencies. The sort of off-key harmonica music that drones in the background also conveys his laid-back but unsteady demeanor.

However, maybe the show is a bit too laid-back. I love slice-of-life anime, and I will sing them to the hilltops, but now and then, we get a show that somehow pushes even my patience to the edge. This episode felt about twice as long as it actually was because every scene is drawn out to the point where I feel like I'm staring at a wall. I don't just say that because the color palette is incredibly muted, but I feel like you could've cut out about a third of this episode and hit the same emotional impact.

This premiere didn't feel slow in an overly deliberate way, as if it was building up to something. It just felt slow because the characters aren't allowed to act with any enthusiasm. The characters' movements are slow, the scenes unfold slowly, everyone's reactions are slow, and even Yano's injuries are slow to occur. If the show can get the pacing just a little bit faster or maybe hit a few more comedic beats to break up the monotony, there can be a lot more charm than what's on display in this premiere.

Episode 2 Rating:

I must admit that I enjoyed the second episode more than the initial premiere. However, I feel that the show hasn't really attempted to remedy the things that I thought were holding it back from being a far more enjoyable slice-of-life series. This suggests that the aspects I had hoped would be exclusive to the premiere, such as the incredibly slow pacing or drawn-out jokes, are actually how the show plans to be for the extension of its run.

There is definitely a cozy atmosphere toYano-kun's Ordinary Days, but it's not exactly stimulating. There are still scenes that feel like they run on for up to a minute longer than necessary to reach the same punchline. If the story were streamlined or a bit more creative with its humor, then I think I could get behind this premise. I could also be jaded and tired of stories that spend almost ten minutes building up to somebody eating a piece of food. My eyes were legitimately glazing over until the scary portrait fell on Yano's head, only to have his face mirror what appeared on the painting. That is the closest thing to a creative joke that this episode does.

The second half of the episode could've been a four-minute skit. The obvious joke about Yano being very good at art while our heroine sucks at it just wasn't worth all of that buildup. Instead, I'm spending almost eight minutes just watching kids in an art classroom while a drunk harmonica plays in the background. I like the actual art style and overall aesthetic of the show, but nothing is done with it, and it feels like everybody is moving in slow motion. It sucks being someone who is in love with slice of life shows while ultimately feeling unsatisfied with one, but I can't think of a better word to describe these two episodes.

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